Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1887-07-22

| n squat little Mexican, with a ferucious
! grin on his face, whom we recalled (after
he had reminded u.s. as the proprietor of
| Ocote, rancho we had passed the night
before. He greeted us effusivey, then ask
ed us to his town house, close at hand
where he showed us specimens of gold and
several bars of silver which he said came
from veins he had discovered.
In an outer room we found n forge and
implements for smelling metals, and while
we were examining them he told us that he
had been experimenting for forty years,
and offered, for adequate consideration, to
conduct us to VEINS the richest in the
country, not veins only, but pOchets Of
| g0d, which were known only 10 few
Indians and himself
" How long have these veins been
| known Z" demanded A.
Our new acquaintance glanced around
with suspicion cleaning from beneath his
| shaggy brows, closed the door against our
| guide and another Mexican outside, and
/ whispered huskily:
They are the mines Of the great Caci-
| que, MOntezuma ~
Great Scott ~ calculated our chief "Do
| you know the tradition regarding those
mines =
Isl, Sehor, they lie near Malmaltepeque :
]
/ TO examine them, many, many years ago 4:
| ! can myself show you whence the soldiers
| dug the nuggets that were taken to the
cOaquiStddor "
Heavens ~ said the chief to Us, in Eng
| lish, this man is n Godscnd to us he can
doubtless take us TO the very spot | won
der what sort Of a trade we can make with
| him.
And how we hugged ourselves, at the
| thought Of this valuable man, so luckily
thrown in our way and our eyes opened
wider aud wider at his recital He told US
| that he had known Of these ancient deposits
forty years three others, who had shared
| the secret with him, were now dead Too
poor 10 work the mines, too suspicious of
his own cOuntrymen to entrust the business
TO any one else, he had remained inactive
till this time. 1t seemed that, after we had
left him the night before, he lay awake,
| Specializing upon the chances that could
have brought strangers, and white men, to
this region. There was not another Of his
cOlor-ths was a doubtful compliment to
us-in the whole country beyond we were
| the first he had seen that way for years
and at last he concluded 1t was mines, and
nothing else that brought US here And
ut one o'clock that morning he got up and
saddled his bUrrO telling his wife that he
had dreamed that we were the men he had
waited for 50 long, and that he must over
take US, for the oracle at lxtlau whom he
had consulted 50 late as the week before.
had told him that strangers, whom he could
trust, were even then on the road to him
that he had a fortune already and why
didn't he avail himselfbf it So he resolv-
ed that the Lord had sent us, and the time
had come To reveal the secret.
We assured him that he was, beyond "A
doubt, correct; the chief told him tomount
his beast and come along, promising to treat
with him if he had anything valuable. and
he promptly followed us. After descend
ing steep ravine, we came to two broad
and rapid streams, crossed by single great
log each, over which our horses carried US
safely, though with some fear and tremb-
ling ON our part At Nolos, the town be-
yond, the cura was absent, so we left our
compliments with pretty girl, who seemed
TO stand him instead Of a wife, and rode on
yet farther. The grandest hill scenery of
Mexico lay before US we were completely
isolated from all of our own speech. yet rid
ing peacefully through the very heart Of
the Indian country, where cultivated plants
lined the road at times, and in places black
berries IN clusters dropped over US so that
we could eat them as we sat in our saddles
1t was the rainy season, and that after
noon, while climbing "A crest of the ridge
| above, leading our horses among great
rocks, fearful storm came down, that
| threatened to wash us over the precipice-
after scaling which we saw another town
| completely buried in cornhelds, Quiotepec
TO the coHdHddHte Of which we had "a letter
He came in after dark-au Indian, about
| tive feet tall, with sparse beard, active
and amiable, and clad, like all the rest. in
Shirt drawers and sandals. He provided
us with beds by spreading straw mating
on some benches, and the next morning
gave us "A letter ordering the pTcSidcnte of
Malinaltepec to show us every favor. Ma
linaltepec was our objective point-the re
gion named in the letters Of Curtes, where
Montezuma is said to have built a pleasure
palace for the king Of Spain, and To have
laid out gardens planted with cocoa and to-
bacco. According To tradition, then, the
letters of Cortes, the reports of the COVER
nor Of the state, and the asseverations Of
our friend, Don Ceestino of Ocute ranch,
rich mines We're in the vicinity Of Mainal-
tepec. 1t lay deep buried below the hills in
Il sitting hot valley, with the climate of the
TERRA cdiieRte as well as its fruits and flow
ers. 1t was a terrible trail that led down
the hillsides from Quiotepec, steep and sto-
ny and with imnumerable twists and doub-
ings upon itself. The hills and cliffs, and
in particular one great isolated rock called
the Convent ~ were red in color and shot
up hundreds of feet and at their bases flow
ed Il swift and turbid torrent, the Rio
Grande. The yellow flood was spanned by
an aboriginal bridge-one of the most in
genious | have ever seen, constructed with
out rope, nail, board or iron bolt 1t was "A
hammock bridge, made entirely of grape
vines. From high poles ON either bank,
braced and stayed 10y vine cables, were
stretched great cables of twisted grape
vines, nearly 300 feet in length Suspend
ed from these ropes was a network of vines.
forming V shaped passageway, like "A
great hammock, stretching from pole TO
pole. 1t hung at least 30 feet above the
stream, and the vine ladders that once led
up to it from either side had been carried
away by floods but A. and b. determined
to cross upon II, though it was necessary 10
climb up, hand over hand, by a single vine,
The bridge was so high above the water
and shook SO alarmingly at the slightest
breath, that ! concluded to ford the stream
with Don Santos and tow over the horses
of the other two, while they essayed the
bridge. They climbed bravely up, the
chief leading, for about 20 feet when their
strength failed them they could get no
farther, Don Santos and | were in mid
stream with all the horses, and we nearly
laughed ourselves out of our saddles at the
futile efforts of our luckless companions,
dangling helpless 20 feet above ground. At
last, disgusted and crestfallen, they slid
down the grapevine and shouted for Don
Santos 70 return and swim them across on
their horses.
We were not far from the Indian village,
but the trees were SO thick about it that
we could see no houses, and all were laden
with fruit; oranges, plums, peaches, lines
and maInmle apples. In the first field we
found some Indians breaking up the soil
with a crooked stick, and to one of them,
who was pointed out as the preSidente, but
who was clad simply in shirt and drawers.
we gave our letter from the conidnduitte.
After standing over it half an hour, unable
TO read it, he left the plow and furrow and
led the way to the village, knocking off the
trees for us ON the way more plums and or
anges than we could eat.
Near the middle of dense orange grove,
golden with fruit, was the casa of the cura,
10 which we were conducted. The worthy
priest pays only monthly visits to Malinalt
epec, SO his house was damp and mouldy, !
its thatch leaky and grass ss-grown, its clay
floor Shiny its one room, containing a ta-
ble and three wooden benches-not a stick
Of furniture else-anything but inviting
Into this after great deal of ceremony, |
we were shown, the dicdide coming to re |
ceiye us at the head of a procession, and |
bearing his slyertip wand of Office
Every house in the village was Of mud or
wattled sticks, matched with grass. Their
church, once "A beautiful structure of stone, |
was toppled over by an earthquake many |
years ago, and a matched shed propped up |
with poles covered the altar, where a dingy |
Virgin sat in ragged inery which had long |
been the sport of the elements. Three |
bells which once had hung in the church |
tnNnr the nllnst hnnl.i,,ar ihn Lntn 1-nn |